Traveling with Children
Family holidays are some of our favourite childhood memories. But we know that for our parents, it would’ve been a lot more stressful than we remember it being! As nannies we have travelled with children numerous times, whether that be abroad or within the UK. We have learnt a thing or two about how to make travelling as seamless and stress-free as it can possibly be.
Allow Plenty of Time
Before kids, you would’ve had the luxury to take your time and not worry about allowing for extra time in the airport or factoring in extra stops along the motorway. When travelling with your family, everything takes a lot longer than you think. If you are heading to the airport make sure you have factored in time to check-in, go through security, buy snacks for the journey and get to the boarding gate. You don’t want to miss your flight because it took you longer than expected to get the buggy through security. Likewise, if you are travelling within the UK make sure you have considered how much time stopping at services will add to the drive. When you have children in the car, you are going to have to take a lot more toilet breaks than when you didn’t travel with kids. Children can’t hold on for as long as us, when they need to go to the toilet, they need to go! You will also find yourself having to stop for regular food breaks and walks to stretch your little ones legs.
Be mindful of how much you are packing
With children it is easy to accidentally overpack. It is common for parents to pack for every eventuality. Whilst it is useful to bring some things that are part of your child’s daily routine, think through what items are actually essential for the trip and what ones you can realistically cope without. When you are travelling it is likely you will end up carrying a child or two. The last thing you want is to be carry heavy bags of luggage alongside your children. Travelling is going to be disruptive whether or not you have all the things that are part of you and your child’s routine. When packing clothes, pack as little as possible. Take a few extra sets of clothes to cover those inevitable accidents and spills, but don’t over-do it. Wherever you are travelling you will always be able to buy things that you have forgotten.
Prebook activities
Travelling before having children gives you the luxury of turning up to your destination and casually exploring to find activities to do. Unfortunately, when travelling with children, this luxury no longer exists! It goes without saying but pre-booking accommodation is the more important thing to have planned before your arrival. After a day of travelling with children, all you want to do is drop-off your bags and relax. If you are wanting to do activities during your holiday, this is something you should research ahead of time and book where possible. This will help ensure you have a stress-free holiday.
Consider spending more on child-travel items
If you can afford it, we suggest spending a little bit more money on a quality travel buggy and car seats. When travelling with children the last thing you want is to be carrying unnecessary weight. You will want a buggy that is lightweight and easy to fold up to ease the stress of getting in and out of taxis or buses during your trip. However, it is important to think about how often you are going to actually use the item before splashing the cash. If you are only going to use it for one or two trips this might not be a necessity.
Explain the trips itinerary to your children
When children are stressed and out of routine, they are unhappy. If there are too many new activities happening, children can get overwhelmed and irritable. Going through the plans for the trip will help your child to understand what is going to happen and takes out the element of surprise. Include details of what they should expect from the airport. If they are taking a comfort toy on the aeroplane, it will need to be put in a tray and sent through x-ray at security. We have personally experienced toddler meltdowns in the security queue when the child is told they have to give up their toy for a couple of minutes and send it into the dark unknown of the x-ray machine. A good tip to preparing your child for this is explaining to them that there is a teddy playground in the machine. Tell them stories of how their toys will get to play with other teddies on the swing-set and slide. The good news is their toy will only be gone for a few minutes so the distress won’t last too long. Talk to your child about the activities you are going to do during the trip and the places they are going to visit. You can even discuss your expectations on their behaviour during the trip.
Pack basic medicines
Sickness on a trip can ruin the whole thing. Travel sickness is also something to watch out for. Be prepared. Pack some basic over-the-counter medicines such as calpol, allergy medicine, motion sickness prevention and insect bite cream. If someone in the family takes prescription medicine be sure to pack this too. Remember to keep it in the original package or at the very least take a copy of the prescription with you that details what is in your prescription and what it is used for. This will be useful for border crossing. Before travelling it is also important to check the regulations of your destination to confirm you are allowed to enter the country with the medications.
Pack an activity bag
When travelling it is essential to keep your children entertained during the journey to avoid a miserable time for you and those around you. Electronic devices are an ideal way to keep your children entertained. If your personal rules are no screen time for your children, there are other options. But if possible, let your children have access to a device during a flight or a long car journey. Even if in your normal routine you limit screen-time, flights and car journeys are situations where you may want to relax your usual rules and let your children have access to their devices for longer than you usually would to keep them quiet. Download some games that can be played without internet connection and download some of their favourite shows on Netflix or Disneyplus. Remember to take headphones for your children too so not to disturb those around them. Before a trip go shopping and pick out some new toys and games for your kids to enjoy whilst travelling. New items will excite your children and capture their attention. Buy small items such as colouring books, fidget toys and small picture books. Avoid buying too many things or items that will be heavy for your child to carry in a small backpack.
Snacks and comfort food
Kids are notorious for getting hangry! Ensure you have packed enough snacks for the journey to cater for long waits between meals due to traffic or long queues. In addition, where you are travelling may have different food to what your child likes or is used to. For adventurous eaters this isn’t usually an issue but for fussy eaters, this may mean a week of not eating properly. Having a supply of snacks in your suitcase will be extremely useful in these situations!
Keeping your children safe
This seems like an obvious thing to do. However, it is arguably the most important thing to consider whilst travelling. Even if everything is going smoothly, kids will be kids and keeping track of them can be difficult. In a new environment children get excited and may run off without you noticing whilst you’re buying tickets or packing up a bag. Even the most attentive parents can lose track of their children, it is easily done. Whilst this might sound extreme, buying an apple airtag for your child can be the most useful thing you ever buy. It doesn’t have to be obvious that your child is wearing one. Put it in their bag, or attach it to the inside of their t-shirt. Being able to track your child’s whereabouts is priceless. It will give you peace of mind. and help you easily find them if anything were to happen. You can also have your child memorise your phone number. Whilst this doesn’t work for little kids, it is something that you can try with older children. For younger children you can write your phone number in the label of their top or put a sticker in their shoe.
Going on holiday with your family will be fun and exciting. Try not to stress about all the details of the trip. If you have put in sufficient preparation for the trip it should be a breeze. Don’t worry about your children having a meltdown on the plane and everyone staring at you. We’ve all been there. And for those who don’t have kids and sit there judging us struggling to maintain peace and order amongst our little ones, there time will come! Children will be children. You cannot control their every move and emotion. Emotional outbursts are inevitable when we are making little ones sit in a metal box flying through the air with no where to play or run around. Just focus on the fun you will have on your trip and the amazing family memories you will make.
If you have the time, which we know is hard to find when raising children, take as many pictures as you can on your trip and create a scrapbook when you get home. This is an easy way to document all your memories and look back on in years to come. Include pictures, postcards or tickets you collected from that trip. If your children are old enough, get them involved in the project too.
